Bert Garvin
AGO 81128
No. 81128
Nebraska Attorney General Opinions
State of Nebraska office of the Attorney General
July 9, 1981
SUBJECT: Vehicle stops of cattle trucks bringing livestock into Nebraska.
REQUESTED BY: Bert Garvin, Director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture; William F. Abell, Attorney, Nebraska Department of Agriculture.
OPINION BY: Paul L. Douglas, Attorney General; Dale A. Comer, Assistant Attorney General.
QUESTION: Do inspectors of the Bureau of Animal Industry who have probable cause to believe that a truck contains livestock imported into the State of Nebraska from another state have authority to stop said truck to inquire whether or not the livestock are entering the state under legal health certificates?
CONCLUSION: Yes.
In your letter requesting our opinion on the question presented above, you noted an earlier opinion of this office which addressed the same subject. 1965-1966 Report of the Attorney General, No. 57 at 83. You then questioned the continued validity of our earlier opinion based upon subsequent United States Supreme Court cases and upon subsequent legislative changes. We have reviewed the pertinent case law and the pertinent portions of the Nebraska statutes. Based upon our review, we have concluded that our earlier opinion remains valid, and that inspectors of the Bureau of Animal Industry do have the authority to stop vehicles containing livestock under the circumstances described in your question.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §54-701 (Reissue 1978) gives the Department of Agriculture broad powers and duties in the protection of the health of livestock in Nebraska. Those powers and duties include regulating or prohibiting the arrival into, departure from and movement within the State of Nebraska of animals infected with, exposed to or suspected of having been exposed to disease. In addition, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§54-785 through 54-796 (Reissue 1978), enacted by the Legislature in 1975, specifically deal with import control and the regulation and prohibition of certain activities relating to the importation of animals into Nebraska. Those sections provide that animals brought into Nebraska must have proper health certificates or waybills and those sections authorize the Department of Agriculture to issue appropriate rules and regulations for enforcement purposes.
Our Supreme Court has also upheld the constitutionality of section 54-701...
